The Way Out Recovery Rehab Santa Clarita Describes Approach To Drugs, Treatment

Posted by: KHTS Community Spotlight in Drugs and Addiction, Santa Clarita Latest News July 18, 2019 - 7:01 am 0 474 Views

The Way Out Recovery Rehab Santa Clarita officials are giving insight into their approach to drugs and treatment in comparison to other approaches commonly taken both in the past and today.

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“In my opinion, and maybe by the numbers as well, drug and alcohol and mental health issues are the biggest, most pervasive issue that we face worldwide,” said Bob Sharits, program director at The Way Out Recovery SCV. “We can learn a lot by looking back at the way that (society) has approached trying to solve the problem.”

Not only have drugs and alcohol been outright abolished in the past, Sharits noted that in the 1980s, a “war on drugs” was declared as a result of the emergence of cocaine.

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“Crack was invented right around that time and it swept the nation, … so there was a lot of devastation and a lot of suffering, and a lot of people got hurt,” Sharits said. “Certainly for good reason, the approach at that time was a declaration of a war on drugs.”

As a result, drug use was heavily “criminalized” and high sentences were given for possession of drugs, according to Sharits, who noted that the approach to drugs today seems to be the opposite.

“The approach today is becoming more of a decriminalization,” he said, referencing the legalization of recreational marijuana and the recent decriminalization of hallucinogenic mushrooms in Denver, Colorado.

Sharits continued that rather than publicly “take a big stance” on drugs being “bad, bad, bad,” the approach of The Way Out Recovery SCV is to instead “get personal with Santa Clarita” in terms of educating the community, opening up honest conversations in an effort to reduce the stigma, and providing treatment for those struggling with substance use disorders.

“Our approach at The Way Out is more of a personal approach: one person at a time, one family at a time, one kid at a time. We want to sit down and have honest conversations about drugs,” Sharits said. “Our main focus is in helping those people who are having problems in their lives as a direct result of their drug use and still continuing to use drugs. When we take that approach, we’re not taking the approach of saying drugs are bad.”

When someone asks The Way Out Recovery SCV about their treatment approach, Sharits said part of their answer is, “We are going to help you explore your relationship with drugs or alcohol.”

This means that staff will provide tools to help the person achieve either a period of abstinence or a reduction in use, and work with the person as they experience the challenges that come along with that, according to Sharits.

A person in treatment will typically come in two to three times a week individually, in addition to having their family or other support system come in as well. It is during these regular meetings that staff will work with the person to identify the stressors in their life “driving” the drug or alcohol use, according to Sharits.

“Those who have difficulty in stopping or reducing our use, the reason for that is because there’s always something behind it,” he explained. “So as the drugs come out of my system, whatever the stressor is in my life starts to show up bigger and bigger because I can’t suppress it with drugs.”

After identifying these driving reasons behind drug or alcohol use and addressing them, The Way Out Recovery SCV staff then help the person “find a new way of life,” according to Sharits.

“What we ultimately do is we learn to live a lifestyle that will accentuate a world of recovery, a life of recovery,” he said. “We call it a ‘lifestyle disorder’ when we’re talking about addiction, and the reason we call it that is because it requires an entire lifestyle change.”

Sharits continued, “So we are going to look at things like diet and exercise, like relationships, like prayer and meditation, like alternative methods to reduce pain issues or mental health issues or stress issues. We are going to look at all that stuff and help you with that stuff.”

Ed. Note: This article is a KHTS Community Spotlight based on a recent interview with The Way Out Recovery SCV.

In Santa Clarita, drug issues are a major concern for many. The mission of The Way Out Recovery Rehab Santa Clarita is to provide high quality, effective alcohol and drug rehab outpatient services to the Santa Clarita Valley. The Santa Clarita rehab’s goal is to assist adolescents, adults and their loved ones in becoming happily and usefully whole, free from drug addiction. Those seeking alcohol and drug treatment in Santa Clarita, a drug rehab in Santa Clarita or a teen drug rehab can rest assured that The Way Out Recovery SCV’s philosophy is to teach life-long coping skills and strategies to assist in improving quality of life and living happily and meaningfully without the need of destructive behaviors.

The Way Out Recovery SCV

28118 Bouquet Canyon Road

Santa Clarita, CA 91350

(661) 296-4444